Paris 2015: Tony Abbott viewed by French as reluctant actor on climate change

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is unlikely to back an "ambitious fight" against climate change but other ministers in his cabinet including Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are more open on the issue, according to a source within the French presidency.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said it would be "a bit difficult" for developed countries like Australia to avoid signing up to deep cuts to greenhouse gases at the Paris climate summit at the end of this year if the European Union, United Kingdom and the US agree to do so.

Some ministers are more open on the issue of global warming than the PM, a French official said. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

As hosts, the French government is lobbying hard the 196 parties planning to attend the Paris summit. The meeting aims to conclude a pact that will keep global temperatures from breaching the 2-degree warming level on pre-industrial times they have already agreed on.

The Group of Seven leaders wrapped up a meeting on Monday, with host Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel calling for a phase-out of fossil fuel use by the end of the century.

Most coal and other fossil fuels will have to stay in the ground if global warming is to be limited, scientists say. Photo: Peter Braig

France is hoping other meetings, including a planned gathering at the United Nations in New York in September, the G20 meeting planned for Turkey in mid-November and even the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in late November will build momentum for a strong Paris agreement.

France also hopes Mr Abbott will attend the leaders' section of the Paris gathering, which may even be brought forward ahead of the November 30 start to avoid a repeat of the chaos that concluded the last climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009.

You will now receive updates fromBreaking News Alert

Breaking News Alert

"Prime Minister Tony Abbott is not very in favour of a very ambitious fight against global warming," the official said. "It's not just a perception."

Ms Bishop, though, was among Australian ministers who gave the issue greater weight. "Even if Mr Abbott is not very climate friendly, other ministers could be more open on the issue," the official said.

Australia's climate stance has drawn stinging criticism - including last week from an African panel led by former UN chief Kofi Annan - after the country become the first nation to introduce a carbon price and then repeal it. The Abbott government has also cut the Renewable Energy Target for 2020 by 20 per cent and sought to scrap the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the Climate Change Authority and other agencies in this field.

Expectations

As for the summit itself, the official sought to douse expectations that nations will agree to carbon cuts deep enough to avoid dangerous climate change.

Even if Mr Abbott is not very climate friendly, other ministers could be more open on the issue

"Surely it won't be enough to stay within two degrees," the official said. Still, it is hoped the summit will set a baseline and provide a "road map" to enable the post-2020 targets to be raised further over the remaining five years of the decade.

"We won't be able to solve everything by next December," the official said, adding global emissions will need to fall by three-quarters to keep within the 2-degree goal.

The European Union has agreed to aim for a 40 per cent reduction of 1990-level emissions by 2030, 60 per cent by 2040 and 80 per cent by 2050. The Abbott government has said it won't release the Australia's post-2020 target until July.

Wealthy nations need of show it is possible to combine economic growth in an ecologically sustainable way that also avoids warming the planet.

"We have to prove this or we will fail," the official said.

US, China optimism

Optimism has been sparked that the US and China, the two biggest emitters, will lead the way at Paris.

President Barack Obama - who again raised the importance of climate action at the G7 meeting in Germany over recent days - can't run for official again and is free to push the issue. "We have an opportunity in 2015 that may not be produced later on," the French official said.

China's President Xi Jinping has also pledged his country will see its emissions peak by 2030.

A new report out Monday by Lord Nicholas Stern and Fergus Green from the London School of Economics, argued that China's drive reduce urban pollution may see Chinese emissions peaking even earlier than 2025 and then fall rapidly.